Buffalo Gal

In 1904, 15-year-old Amanda Guthridge leaves the comforts of San Francisco to accompany her mother on the difficult trek to Texas. The girl is unhappy about the trip, the purpose of which is to locate and corral a herd of buffalo. Determined to help save these animals from extinction, Mrs. Guthridge enlists several men to serve as guides during this often perilous mission. The skilled, handsome leader of the group is a half-Comanche teenager, David Talltree, who dismisses Amanda as a ``spoiled brat.'' Furious, she's bent on proving him wrong, and in doing so transforms their combative relationship into a romantic one. Wallace ( A Dog Called Kitty ; Beauty ) colorfully depicts the trials along the trail: dodging an alligator, a rattlesnake, a thunderous hailstorm, a ferocious buffalo. Some elements are farfetched--the seemingly unacademic David, for example, is suddenly accepted to Harvard Law School; Amanda is consumed with ill will (``I hated my family'') but with unusual rapidity becomes spirited and warm-hearted. Yet her story may well garner the interest of those who enjoy historical fiction. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)